Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1887-07-23

struggling ashore amidst the shlVered
umbers of the shipwreck. | see "a gas.
in Paul's side. Where did he get that?
1 think he got that in the tussle with
h~ighwaymen, for he had been in peril
with robbers, and he had money of his
own. He was a mechanic as well as
AN apostle, and l think the tents he
made were as good as his sermons.
THE TIME OF Ills DEPARTURE.
There is n wanness about Paul's
looks. What makes that? | think a
part OF that came from the fact that he
was for tw~enty-four hours on q plank
in the Mediterranean sea, suffering ter
ribly, before he was rescued; for he
says positively: II was II night and "A
day in the deep" Oh, worn out, ema-
ciated old man! surely you must be
melancholy; TO constitution could en-
dure this and be cheerful. But press
my way through the prison until
come up close to where he is. and by
the faint light that streams through tie
opening l see on his face a supernatu-
raj JOY, and l bow before him, and |
say: aged man, how can you keep
cheerful amidst all this gloOm?" His
voice s~tartles the darkness of the place
as he cries aloud: Il am now ready
to be offered, and the time of my de-
parture is at hand" Hark! what is
that shutting of feet in the upper dun
geon? Why, Paul has an invitation to
a banquet, and he is going to dine to-
day with the king. Those shuifling
feet are the feet Of the executioners.
They come, and they cry down through
the hole of the dungeon: Hurry up.
old man. Come now; get yourself
ready" Why, Paul was ready. He
had nothing to pack up. He had no
baggage to take. He had been ready
a good while. ! see him rising up, and
strengthening out his stiffened limbs,
and pushing back his white hair from
his crevlced forehead, and see him
looking up through the hole in the roof
of the dungeon into the face of he exe-
cutioner, and hear him say: ~ am
now ready 20 be offered, and the time
of my departure is at hand" Then
they lift him out of the dungeon, and
they start with him TO the place of exc
cution. They say: Hurry along, old
man, OF you will feel the weight of our
spear. Hurry along" How far is
it," says Paul, ave have to trayel?'
Three miles" Three miles is II good
way for an old man TO travel after he
has been whipped and crippled with
maltreatment. But they soon get to
the place of execution Acquae Saliva
and he is fastened to the
PILLAR OF M~ARTYRDoM.
1t does not take any strength to tie
him fast. He makes no resistance.
Oh Paul! why not strike for your lifeF
You have IA great many friends here.
With that wl,hered hand just launch
the thunder-bolt of the people upon
was not going to interfere with his own
coronation. He was too glad to 60.
see him looking up in the face of his
executioner, and, as the grim oflicla
draws the sword, Paul calmly says: al
am now ready to be offered, and the
time of my departure is ut hand" Blu
| put my hand owe my eyes. l wan
not to see that last struggle. On,
sharp, keen stroke, and Paul does &C
to the banquet, and Paul does din,
with the king.
What a transition 1t was. From tn,
malaria of Rome to the finest climate
in all the universe-the zone of eterna
beauty and health. His ashes wer,
put in the catacombs Of Rome, but il
one moment the air of heaven battle,
from his soul the last ache. From
shipwreck, from dungeon, FROM tn
biting pain Of the elm-wood rods, from
the sharp sword of the headsman, h,
goes into the most brilliant assembling,
of heaven, a king among kings. multi
tudes of the sainuhood rushing out an,
stretching forth hands of welcome; TO
| do really think that rs on the RICH
hand OF God is Christ, so on the RICH
hand of Christ is Paul, the seconc
great in heaven.
He changed kings likewise. Before
the hour of death, and up to the last
moment, he was under Nero, the thick.
necked, the cruel-eyed, the filthy-lipped
the sculptured features of that man
bringing down to US to this very day
the horrible possibilities of his nature
seated as he was amidst pictured
marbles of Egypt, under "A roof adorn.
ed with mother-of-pearl, in a dining
room which by machinery was kept
whirling day and night with most be-
witching magnificence; his horses
standing in stalls of solid gold, and the
grounds around his palace lighted at
night by its victims. who had been
daubed with tar and pitch and then
set on fire to illumine the darkness.
That was
PAUL'S KING.
But the next moment he goes into
the realm of Him whose reign is love,
and whose courts are paved with love,
and whose throne is set on pillars Of
love and wEose sceptIeis adorned with
Jewels of love. and whose palace is
lighted with love, and whose lifetime
j. an eternity of love. Woen Paul was
lravjug SCI much on this side the pillar
= marry rium 10 gain 81 much on the
rl,'cr >ri, dn you wonder at the cheer
tul valcdirtory of the text: The time
of my dpparture is at handn